GCash, 7-Eleven team up in cashless race

Mobile wallet GCash and convenience store chain 7-Eleven have teamed up to introduce a new digital payment option for physical purchases: scan-to-pay (STP) via a barcode feature in the GCash app.“This partnership is anchored on the shared goal of enabling more Filipinos to participate in the digital financial landscape. By allowing 7-Eleven stores to accept GCash STP via Barcode payments, we are bringing the vision of building a cashless Philippines,” GCash president Anthony Thomas said.

To use GCash’s STP via barcode, 7-Eleven customers need to generate their unique barcodes through the GCash app and allow the cashier to scan their barcodes to complete the transaction.

These steps are seen to streamline the already frictionless QR (quick response) code system. With STP via barcode, merchants do not need to have a QR key code, which the customer scans to transact. Merchants also need not to have their own mobile devices to verify the payments, as STP via barcode is already integrated into the merchant’s point-of-sales.

“After scanning barcodes to redeem promotions and reload accounts for over five years now, including taking payments from our CLiQQ wallet over the last two, we believe we have built the most convenient payment experience in the country, and that the time is right to open up our infrastructure to partners who share our vision,” Philippine Seven Corp. president and chief executive Jose Victor Paterno said.

“We are pleased to partner first with GCash, whom we have been working with for several years. Many customers already visit us to cash-in their GCash wallets, now they can use those same wallets to pay for their purchases as well as participate in our CLiQQ loyalty program,” he added. INQ